Radio Interview with the Chairman of the Strategic Research Council

For our English readers we have translated the radio interview with Chairman of the Strategic Research Council Prof. Mr. Peter Olesen

DR – Danish Broadcoast. P1 orientering 23.06.2010, at 17.10

In the fabled past scientists were often men, who on a regular basis made great inventions in laboratories and libraries. The World was innocent and almost all science made was what we today call basic science.

Now days our knowledge within all sort of disciplines are enormous, and our society is often referred to as a scientific society.

This is a mistake, thinks the Chairman of the Strategic Research Council Peter Olesen. We are living in an innovative society and exactly therefore it is important to make a clear strategy for where in can pays off for Denmark to concentrate on science.

Orientering’s Hanne Foighel has spoken to Peter Olesen when he last week went on a field trip to a country, which is almost synonym with the term innovation, Israel.

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HF: Research should be relevant; research should also be useful, it should have an effect for the research environment, for the society and for the industry. It is central for when a small state as Denmark is making a strategy to, for what, and where research funding should be staked. This is what the Chairman of the Strategic Research Council Peter Olesen expresses when we meet in the humid, hot, Tel Aviv with air-conditions as a background noise.

PO: What defines strategic research is; unlike many other research areas, where one strives to hand out the all the best research, where it may be, or which areas it may cover, political. It is research in areas where one expects at greater significance than in other areas. Especially in this brutal global competitive situation that we find us in, then there are areas there are more important for our growth, welfare and the society’s existence etc.

HF: Denmark has a lot of unique research in the fields of nano technology, classic biotechnology, advanced bio informatics and the use of computers for the administration of biological information. And the Strategic Research Council has already in its plan FORSK 2015, which was published 2 years ago, pointed out what is important for environmental research, food, energy and transport, health and many other areas. Still it upsets Peter Olesen that the general perception is that the Danish society is a scientific society because it’s is not

PO: When we speak of research and strategic research and many other kinds of research there is still a general perception both in the society amongst the politicians but also to a certain degree at the universities and other places that we are living in a scientific society, where the most important issue is to generate as much knowledge/research in wide areas, because we never know where there is a need for it. Maybe this has been a good practice for some years but it does not take in to account that we actually do no live in a scientific society any longer. We have seen the development from the classic industrial society to the welfare society to the scientific society. But what we actually are living in is a brutal competitive and an innovative society; this means that there is great strain on transferring our knowledge, our research to innovation. And when I say innovation it is not only new products in companies but innovation in the society. It demands to a high degree that the public and private sector work together. We need innovation, and smarter ways to carry out things in the public system as much as we need it in the enterprises, because the competition is fierce, and we are probably also compelled to focus our research more that we are use to

HF: Peter Olsen has arrived to Tel Aviv with 20 representatives of the Danish bio medic industry. Together with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation they are the Danish “stand” at the annual international Biomed congress in Tel Aviv. Last year, where the Danish delegation was smaller, 3-4 EU sponsored projects between Danish and Israeli companies were a result of the congress. Peter Olesen has taken the opportunity to study what the Israelis do when it comes to the cooperation between innovation, universities and the industry

PO: Yes, this is one of the things that have really impressed me. When you look at the number of start up companies, the number of projects where you work together with some companies and universities compared to the populations size etc. Then Israel is found in the top well above USA which we normally always compare us with

HF: Peter Olesen was been impressed about the huge effort there is in Israel from the state and private funds to help the researchers transform their ideas to products that actually can be sold. It happens to often, he explains, that innovative projects falls into – what is called the “valley of death”. The idea is good but it cannot be transformed into business

PO: And here in Israel they have launched several systems to try to build a bridge over the “valley of death” to make a more coherent innovation process. I think we could learn a lot from this in Denmark

HF: Will you leave [Israel] with some useful ideas on which way we should proceed with research in Denmark

PO: Where I really have been inspired by Israel is in two areas. There exists a bilateral agreement between Israel and Denmark regarding research development between enterprises. I think, I have also received a good response, on this proposal in the meetings that I have had, the last two days with high level personnel, that we could think about expanding the agreement so it also includes, not only cooperation with companies, but also strategic research. Then we will link the strategic research closer to innovation.
The second thing that I am taking home with me is the practical organizing of the incubator principle, where you try to nurture the good ideas until they are able to work by themselves. We have spoken in Denmark about having some incubator systems, but we have been too preoccupied with the building the psychical frame that we have not had the financing in place. Here they have developed a system, where you have an incubator that is driven by professionals and with an investor behind it, so you can handpick the ideas and new thoughts from the academia and make small enterprises in the incubator that will be funded a long the way. It is a very interesting concept that I would like to establish in Denmark, maybe in collaboration with Israel, I do not know, but it does give food for thoughts. But we have to make the differentiation between what is important and what is mostly important otherwise it all becomes muddy.

Peter Olesen has since he returned home from Israel already met with the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation to tell her about the inspiration gained from the trip.